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Passenger in Cape small plane crash: 'God put his hand around us'

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By Marissa Lang and Sean Teehan, Globe Correspondents, and Travis Andersen, Globe Staff

The two men whose small plane crash-landed off a Mashpee beach today were making an inspirational video for a church just before they had their own close encounter with fate.

"God put his hand around us. When we were going down, I said, 'God, I need help, I really need some help right now,'" Josh Adams, youth pastor for the Cape Cod Church in
Falmouth, the passenger in the plane, said today. Adams stood uninjured on South Cape Beach, while the wreckage of the plane was submerged offshore, only its tailfin visible above the waves.

Adams said he and pilot Mike Keeling, who also appeared uninjured as he stood on the beach, had been flying over Cape Cod, preparing a video of aerial shots of the area's beauty. The video was to accompany a sermon planned by Adams on appreciating the things you take for granted.

Both Adams and Keeling said the engine cut out unexpectedly as they were making their final approach to Falmouth Airpark. Keeling then maneuvered the plane to an emergency landing in the water.

“We’re very blessed,” Adams said. “You don’t hear about people crashing in the ocean and walking away from it.”

Frank Dubrawski of Hilton Head Island, S.C., said he was spending the afternoon with his wife on the beach when he noticed the plane flying “awfully low” over the dunes toward the water. The wheels of the plane skimmed the water before it crashed, he said.

From the beach, Dubrawski could see the pilot and the passenger through the windows of the plane, he said.

“It looked like two dummies like you’d see in those car crash tests,” Dubrawski said. “Their bodies just launching forward and bouncing around in the cockpit.”

No one was swimming in the water when the plane crashed, he said.

Ben Feldott of Falmouth, pastor of the church, came to the beach because he was concerned about the two men. He said he had flown before with Keeling, who is a member of the church.

"I've been up with him before so he's a pretty good pilot but putting it down in the water that's really impressive," Feldott said.

The single-engine plane, a Cessna 177B manufactured in 1975, crashed into the water about 100 yards off the beach shortly after noon today, FAA and Coast Guard officials said.

The two people aboard were helped to shore by beach lifeguards. The 17-year-old lifeguards, who were still at their posts this afternoon, had no comment.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Martin Finucane of the Globe staff contributed to this report.